"You burn down a little bit on the second night," Davey said, "but it's supposed to be harder when you're on the road - not at home."

Santa Clara's Steve Nash, the conference's leading scorer, had 24 points to lead the Broncos and passed the career 1,000 point mark with a jump shot just beyond the 3-point line in the first half.

"There was a big letdown," Nash said, "especially at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half."

Gonzaga (11-7 overall) began the second half with a 17-5 run, taking a 46-40 lead with two Jon Kinloch 3-pointers. He finished with 20 points, behind teammate Paul Rogers' 25, which led all scorers.

"Kinloch shot a lot better down here than he did up there," Davey said, referring to the Jan. 19 game in Spokane, a 73-68 Santa Clara victory behind Nash's career-best 40 points.

"Most of the credit tonight should go to Gonzaga," Davey said. "They got the ball up quickly on offense, quicker than they usually do, and they gave us a game. We were in a constant struggle."

"They played well," Nash said, "and we didn't play as well as we could."

Nash said Gonzaga was able to take Santa Clara out of its offensive game plan.

"They hold a lot," he said. "They clutch and grab on screens, and that can take you right out of your offense."

With the score tied 54-54 and 8:05 left, Nash sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Broncos the lead for good.

He scored four points in the run, but the most crowd-pleasing play was his feed inside to Marion Garnett, who was fouled while dunking. He sank the free throw to complete the three-point play.

Garnett, who finished with 16 points, added a 3-pointer in the game-winning run.

Jason Sedlock also scored 16 points for Santa Clara, matching his career best.

Sedlock was particularly effective earlier in the second half, scoring nine points and making up for the performance of Kinloch, who sank three 3-point jumpers in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Santa Clara is now 6-1 in the conference, its best WCC start since the 1972-73 season, and 14-4 overall, its best since 1983-84.

Santa Clara began the game with a 5-0 run, with Garnett scoring first inside and following with a 3-pointer.

But the Broncos struggled, as Gonzaga played a rugged inside defense and Rogers and Kinloch led an offensive effort that kept the score surprisingly close.

Gonzaga finished the first half with nine unanswered points, narrowing Santa Clara's lead to 35-29.&lt;